Slavery awareness charity Unseen releases illustrated paper chains by Andrew Rae, David Doran and others

Slavery awareness charity Unseen has released festive paper chains created by four UK illustrators, telling real-life stories of sufferers the organisation has directly helped. Commissioned by creative agency Aesop in collaboration with B&A, which represents the four selected illustrators, the campaign aims to raise funds for an estimated 13,000 people trapped in modern slavery in the UK. All the illustrators donated their time to the project.

Andrew Rae, David Doran, Radio and Tom Jay have created the long-format illustrations, each depicting their own story. Andrew’s, for example, tells the story of a young refugee named Asif, who was subject to labour exploitation and horrendous living conditions in the UK for three years, before receiving help from Unseen to set up a life for himself. The illustrations tell his story in single colour vignettes on a red background, creating festive-looking artwork with a hidden message.

David’s is more figurative, featuring an illustrated pattern of a woman and a key interspersed with snowflakes. His artwork represents the story of a woman named Grace, who escaped an uprising in her home country only to be trafficked for prostitution in the UK, who has since been rehabilitated by Unseen.

Visit the Unseen Christmas site to donate and download the artworks, and read more about the stories behind the campaign.